A cabinet, such as a kitchen or bathroom cabinet, usually incorporates mounting holes in a rear surface or in brackets attached to the cabinet to enable the cabinet to be mounted to a wall. To mount the cabinet to a wall a person typically holds the cabinet against the wall with one hand by pressing the cabinet against the wall. A spirit level is placed on top of the cabinet or on a shelf in the cabinet to help the person hold the cabinet level. Whilst holding the cabinet with one hand, the person takes a pencil with their other hand and attempts to mark the wall adjacent the rear surface of the cabinet, aligned with the center of each of the mounting holes, by inserting the tip of the pencil through each of the mounting holes. The person then moves the cabinet away from the wall and drills holes in the wall at each of the marked points. The drilled holes should line up with the mounting holes, allowing the cabinet to be secured to the wall.
The rear surface of a cabinet is often spaced back from the rear edge of the side panels, to allow for mounting to an uneven surface, or even to allow services (e.g. pipes) to be installed in the void formed between the rear surface and the wall. As a result, the mounting hole may be spaced some distance from the wall. The diameter of the mounting hole (which can be as small as 4 mm) is generally smaller than the diameter of a typical marking device (e.g. pen or pencil) at the person's disposal. Accordingly, especially if the rear surface of the cabinet is spaced sufficiently from the wall, the marking element of the device may not be able to protrude all the way through to the wall, thereby preventing a mark being made.
Although especially the case with cabinets—where the surface with mounting holes is spaced from the wall to be marked—the same problem may be encountered with other items to be secured to a surface, for example, shelf brackets, electrical units, window frames, structural members etc. Even when the item is able to be placed in contact with the wall, the depth of the mounting hole may be so large, and/or the diameter of the mounting hole may be so small, that a conventional marking device is not sufficient.
Attempts to alleviate this problem are sometimes made when using a pencil, by sharpening the tip such that it tapers with a shallow angle, so that the exposed lead extends further beyond the main body of the pencil. The pencil may then protrude further through the mounting hole, to reach the surface. An alternative is to use a propelling or clutch pencil, by extending the lead far beyond the body of the pencil. However, pencils are not designed for such uses and so the lead tends to snap easily. Moreover, a pencil is not an appropriate marker for some surfaces (e.g. tiles or brick).
Still further, it is difficult for a person to make a mark on the wall accurately aligned with the center of each of the mounting holes whilst the person is holding the cabinet with one hand and trying to make the marks with the pencil in their other hand. The cabinet may slip during the marking process. The person must then either try to re-align the holes with the marks already made—which relies on the marks being visible through the holes—or have to start again and reposition the cabinet in a new location, marking the wall aligned with each hole once more. This extra step to correct the misalignment or to reposition is time consuming and problematic.